October 5, 2006 – More than 300 delegates and alternates voted
overwhelming during the Rhode Island AFL-CIO Convention to approve a resolution
submitted by Providence, RI Local 799 to request that the AFL-CIO notify all
Rhode Island labor organizations to request that Providence Mayor David
Cicilline cease and desist his anti-union positions and actions against the
members of Providence Local 799.

“Mayor Cicilline should seriously consider the sentiments
expressed in this censure resolution in future negotiations with Local 799,”
says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “

Members of Providence Local 799 have been engaged in ongoing
battles with Mayor Cicilline, particularly on issues related to public safety,
since his election to office in 2001. Additionally, Mayor Cicilline has
continued to implement adverse and demeaning internal policies and conditions
that Local 799 has spent thousands of dollars in legal fees fighting to
overturn.

For more than five years, Providence fire fighters worked
without a contract, despite promises from Mayor Cicilline to work with Local 799
to negotiate a fair agreement within 30 days of his election. Mayor Cicilline’s
administration also sought to cut fire fighters from an already under-staffed
Providence Fire Department.

In June 2005, IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger,
Providence Local 799 President Paul Doughty, IAFF 3rd District Vice President
Michael Mullane, Rhode Island State Association of Fire Fighters President Frank
Montanaro and more than 350 fire fighters from across New England gathered at
Providence City Hall to call on Mayor Cicilline to keep his promise of a new
contract and demonstrate a renewed commitment to adequate public safety for the
people of Providence.

Mayor Cicilline continues to routinely force Local 799 to seek
remedies through arbitration to resolve issues that could be resolved through
cooperative communication.

Local 799 was greatly assisted in the effort to pass the censure
resolution by Rhode Island State Association of Fire Fighters President Frank
Montanaro, who also serves as president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO.

Local 799 President Paul Doughty says, “We are sending a strong
message to the mayor that an injury to one labor union is an injury to us all. I
hope he will realize that there is strength in unity and decide to sit down and
talk to us in good faith.”